Washington (CNN) – Michelle Obama was asked on Wednesday why it's important to speak up in her position and her jovial answer to a group of African first spouses highlighted many men have come to realize over time: Women are smarter than men as a whole.

"Women are smarter than men," Obama quipped to a chorus of laughs at the African Leaders Spousal Summit in Washington. "And the men can't complain because you're outnumbered today."

(CNN) - Kentucky's two U.S. Senate candidates traded pithy barbs Saturday at a dual campaign stop in the midst of a race with national implications.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his opponent, Democrat Alison Grimes, appeared in western Kentucky's Fancy Farm Picnic, where they each criticized the experience level of the other candidate.

(CNN) – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday there’s far too many people sitting in prisons for non-violent drug crimes and called on Republicans to focus on people not just before they’re born but after as well.

“I’m pro-life and if you’re pro-life you have to be pro-life when they get out of the womb also,” Christie said in an appearance at the Aspen Institute in Colorado, similar to comments he made last month at a major social conservative gathering in the nation's capital.FULL POST

(CNN) – Sen. Marco Rubio used his first visit this election cycle to New Hampshire, a key primary state, to take apparent shots at a potential 2016 presidential opponent - Hillary Clinton.

The Floridian was speaking Friday night to fellow Republicans at the Granite State’s “Freedom Founders” dinner, an annual event held by the Rockingham County Republican Committee.

Although not referring to Clinton by name, Rubio said: “They're threatening to nominate someone now who wants to take us to the past, to an era that is gone and is never coming back. The 20th century is gone. We live in the 21st century, a time of extraordinary challenges but also extraordinary opportunities. And that's where our party must step in.”

Washington (CNN) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday that while last week’s execution in Oklahoma was clearly botched, there’s no need for sweeping changes in capital punishment laws across the country.

Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer, died almost 45 minutes after his execution began last week at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester when one of his veins collapsed during the administration of a previously unused combination of lethal injection drugs.

(CNN) – Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed Sunday that everything from security procedures to budget cuts must be reviewed in light of last week’s shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, which left four dead and 16 wounded.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said he’d like to have more military police on bases but doesn’t see how that’s possible with budget cuts like sequestration.

Washington (CNN) - Rep. Mike Rogers said Sunday that while he’s calling it quits from Congress, he’ll stay active in politics by hosting a new national radio program, which might even serve as a launchpad for a 2016 presidential run.

The Michigan Republican said last week that he isn’t running for re-election this fall, after serving a little over a decade in office, the last few years as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

(CNN) – Lois Lerner, former director of tax exempt organizations for the IRS, will testify this week on Capitol Hill, Rep. Darrell Issa said Sunday.

Issa said he received word from Lerner's attorney that she will provide testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about her role in potentially unfair targeting of certain political groups by the IRS.